Compromise Sidelines Cage-Free Chickens Initiative

It’s been a battle between animal rights activists and egg producers: Should farms be required to let egg-laying chickens roam free?

Unhappy with Oregon lawmakers’ actions, an animal rights group wanted a vote. But this week, there was a compromise. It’s a landmark decision, according to the Humane Society of the United States.

State lawmakers had agreed to require hens get more room to roam — in several years. But one farm here in Central Oregon is among those already doing it.

Mike Holmes owns Holmestead Farms in Bend with his wife. Holmes has goats, pigs, turkeys and chickens–all roaming free.

“I like chickens — that’s why my chickens are all free-range,” Holmes said Friday. “I let them come and go as they please.”

After buying the farm in 2007, Holmes wanted to have animals, and says chickens were the first step.

“They are easy to purchase, easy to take care of, and they are rewarding in the fact that they get eggs,” Holmes said.

But it’s how and where those chickens lay the eggs that are at the heart of a wide-ranging dispute between egg producers and animal rights groups.

When Holmes first started raising chickens, he kept them in a pen of about 30 by 20 feet, but it didn’t feel right.

“I didn’t feel that was the way I wanted them to be, so one day my wife and I just decided to open the door and let them out,” Holmes said.

Animal rights groups like the HSUS also don’t like some of the conditions, such as battery cages, hens are raised in, calling it inhumane.

Many large egg producers say they cage and confine the birds to control the environment, so they can produce a lot more eggs — and you can’t do that if you let them roam freely.

While Holmes allows his chickens to roam, he doesn’t believe some cages are all that bad.

“I cant say the chickens in a cage are unhappy, because they are fed and watered,” he said. “And usually, if you feed and water them, they are pretty happy.”

But Holmes does believe chickens should have more room.

Earlier this year, the Legislature passed a bill that will require farmers to get rid of battery cages, and instead use colony cages. Many states have enacted similar rules.

“I think it’s a good thing that we are working towards a better condition, living conditions for the chickens,” Holmes said.

The two sides will work on nationwide elimination of battery cages and doubling the amount of space in new hen houses and so, the effort to go before voters next year is called off.

By the way, just Thursday, Holmestead Ranch had a litter of pigs — 10 little baby pigs. Holmes is encouraging the public to come and check them out.

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Here are two releases issued Thursday about the agreement:

OHS Applauds Withdrawal of Ballot Initiative on Eggs; New Oregon Law is Now a Model for Federal Legislation

The Oregon Humane Society today applauded the withdrawal of a short-sighted cage-free ballot initiative to be placed before Oregon voters, and noted that a new Oregon law protecting egg-laying hens is now a model for proposed federal legislation.

In a stunning reversal, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) announced today that it would drop its planned Oregon and Washington ballot initiatives. Instead, HSUS said it would work with egg producers at the national level for the adoption of an ?enriched colony system? of chicken housing that is now the law in Oregon. HSUS had fought strongly against the Oregon legislation, advocating instead a ?cage free? system that mandated minimum space requirements for birds but little else.

?We?re glad that HSUS has seen the light and is now joining the Oregon Humane Society in supporting a comprehensive standard of care represented by our state?s new law,? said OHS Executive Director Sharon Harmon. ?This new federal legislation, if passed, would be a major victory for animal welfare advocates and would end decades of inhumane treatment,? said Harmon.

OHS is not affiliated with HSUS in any way, and the two groups had, until now, found themselves on opposite sides of the table when it came to improving the welfare of commercial egg-laying hens.

?In Oregon, animal advocates and businesses worked together to find a solution to the terrible conditions many hens are subjected to,? said Harmon. The new Oregon law, she noted, outlaws ?battery cages? that confined birds to tiny enclosures and mandates both more space for hens and a standard of care that covers nutrition, ventilation, lighting and waste management. The colony system is based on the best available science and is endorsed by the American Humane Association.

?We always believed that developing a home-grown solution supported by all parties was best for the hens.? said Harmon. ?The HSUS cage-free ballot initiative likely would have been hamstrung by lawsuits for years, even it had been passed,? said Harmon.

HSUS announced today that it will work with the United Egg Producers, the egg industry?s national trade group, to ask the US Congress to enact federal legislation that would require egg producers to fully transition to enriched colony systems by 2029.

Oregon?s law, in contrast, would be fully implemented by 2026, a time frame HSUS had criticized as being too slow. ?I am concerned that the proposed federal legislation might preempt state laws,? said Harmon, ?as this means fully implementing our new care standards could be delayed by three years if the law proposed by HSUS and the egg industry passes.?

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Willamette Egg Farms Praises Historic UEP-HSUS Agreement

Proposed New National Standards, Along with Suspension of Ballot Measures in Oregon and Washington, Will Allow for Faster Adoption of Enriched Colony Housing

CANBY, Ore. – Willamette Egg Farms (WEF), a leading Northwest egg producer, is enthusiastically supportive of today?s historic animal welfare agreement signed by United Egg Producers (UEP) and The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). The agreement, which comes on the heels of unprecedented state-level hen welfare legislation in Oregon (SB 805) and Washington (SB 5487), will spur comprehensive new federal legislation and suspend ballot measure initiatives in both states.

Key components of the agreement include the national adoption of Enriched Colony Housing, which nearly doubles the space allotment for hens, along with providing hens the ability to express natural behaviors, such as perching, nesting and scratching. (For more information, contact UEP: 404-367-2761.)

?We are beyond pleased that United Egg Producers has found common ground with HSUS,? says Greg Satrum, co-owner of Willamette Egg Farms. ?We?ve been working with Northwest legislators and animal welfare organizations, including Oregon Humane Society and American Humane Association, for the past year on hen welfare standards for Oregon and Washington. With this agreement, and the threat of costly state ballot measures off the table, we can now focus our energy on early adoption of the new standards.?

The proposed new national standards are similar to the recently passed legislation in Oregon and Washington that requires adoption of American Humane Association-endorsed Enriched Colony Housing. WEF strongly supported both SB 805 and SB 5487.

?The industry-wide agreement to commit to pursuing national standards is key for early adoption,? notes Satrum. ?A uniform national standard would remove the guesswork and potential liabilities of investing in new systems that might later be banned by ballot initiatives. Now that UEP and HSUS are in agreement, we can be a lot more confident moving forward with the significant financial investment required to adopt the new standards.?

WEF anticipates the transition to Enriched Colony Housing at its Oregon and Washington farms will represent potentially a $50 million investment over the next 15 to 18 years.

About Willamette Egg Farms

Willamette Egg Farms is a third-generation, family-owned farm committed to quality and community. For more than 75 years, Willamette Egg Farms has been providing nutritious, quality eggs to the Pacific Northwest. As a sustainable business, Willamette Egg Farms is leading the way in food safety practices, creating healthy hen living environments, minimizing environmental impact, improving the wellbeing of workers and remaining an economically viable partner in the community. Today, Willamette Egg Farms is proud to offer a variety of eggs and egg products from its farms located in Canby, Ore. and Moses Lake, Wash. For more information, visit WillametteEgg.com.